Joe Rogan, Come On My Podcast to Debate Me About Why It's Dumb to Debate on a Podcast
OVER THE WEEKEND, the extremely popular podcast host Joe Rogan—host of the Joe Rogan Experience—offered $100,000 to the vaccine expert Peter Hotez to come on his podcast and debate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an official Democratic presidential candidate and longtime anti-vaccine crusader, about the safety and efficacy of vaccines ("with no time limit"). A whole trailing claque of self-styled freethinkers, from Elon Musk through Elon Musk's Silicon Valley pals down to the sad sacks who pay $8 a month to be Elon Musk's featured reply guys on Twitter, seconded the demand. Eventually, as Hotez kept declining the offer, things degenerated to the point where a free-expression enthusiast showed up at his door to hound him for exercising his personal discretion over whether and how he would speak in public.
Joe Rogan: your demand for a debate is idiotic, and it's making everyone who listens to you even dumber than they were. I invite you to come on my podcast, the Indignity Morning Podcast, to debate me about why your whole concept of debating is stupid.
There would be no official time limit, but most episodes of the Indignity Morning Podcast clock in around four minutes, so we'd keep it short. Luckily, there's not much to say. You think letting Robert F. Kennedy Jr. argue with Peter Hotez in a public forum (specifically, your forum) would help people come to better conclusions about vaccines and covid. I would tell you that you are wrong.
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